Island Sanctuary is yet another data point in the trend of FF14's downhill spiral

[Iyrnthota]

It literally is not hyperbole at all. After playing near constantly since the servers were back up, and being an addict of media about this game, I have literally encountered zero complaints ( other than technical issues due to so many people trying to get in at once) until coming to these forums. Its like an anti-universe here or something.

I suspect you may have lucked yourself into a positive echo chamber. I've seen several complaints on both twitter and the subreddit.

This thread here for example is a list of suggested UI/UX improvements for IS:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...eds_some_uiux/

The top comment is about finding sprint not being a toggle to be particularly annoying, but the existence of the thread itself is a "complaint". A constructive one, I would say, but a complaint nonetheless.

Twitter in general is a cesspool. If you've seen no negative comments there then you are fortunate indeed.

Arguably, something having no complaints is actually a bad thing. Nothing is perfect, so seeing no negative feedback is indicative, to me, that no-one cares enough to want it to improve, which is an inditement in itself.

We're also in something of a honeymoon period.
The content has been out less than a week, everyone is still enjoying it. Give it a little while for people to play through, get some experience in. I'm sure you'll start to see the "complaints" pop up more.

[Theodric]

I literally see zero negativity, not one bad comment and nothing but praise for Island Sanctuaries in game, discord, reddit, twitter...oh forums, never change.

When this happens I think people need to take a step back and consider whether they're in a rather isolated echo chamber. Within my circle of friends opinions are very mixed - some people like it, others are indifferent and then there's another portion who think it is disappointing.

The same could be said about many other aspects of the game. What often occurs, I find, is that threads like this attract the sort of players who treat any criticism or disappointment towards the game as some sort of personal slight against them and their favourite thing in the world. I saw this trend quite often even as WoW declined - even valid criticism or well meaning comments aimed to provide constructive feedback were attacked or dismissed. Yet it's particularly strange where this forum is concerned given that the development team and customer support agents both direct players here to leave feedback towards the game.

Thus 'fOrUmZ sUcK' style comments are attacking people for using them for their primary intended purpose. Whether the development team actually read or listen to the feedback in question is another matter entirely, though.

[Hurlstone]

I have mostly seen positive opinions on Island Sanctuary, more then I expected in fact. It was also going to get some negativity though, be it from those who expected more of a housing like simulation or those who simply do not enjoy that type of gameplay. SE will never release something that has a 100% approval rate, no game will. Its just the nature of having a game with a huge verity of players.

Personally speaking I have not manged to play it as much as other, but I am really enjoying it. Its just what I wanted, a gameplay feture that is just about the enviroment with no combat. Plus its an excelent bedrock for them to continue and improve on. Will agree that the UI sucks though...

When this happens I think people need to take a step back and consider whether they're in a rather isolated echo chamber. Within my circle of friends opinions are very mixed - some people like it, others are indifferent and then there's another portion who think it is disappointing.

The same could be said about many other aspects of the game. What often occurs, I find, is that threads like this attract the sort of players who treat any criticism or disappointment towards the game as some sort of personal slight against them and their favourite thing in the world. I saw this trend quite often even as WoW declined - even valid criticism or well meaning comments aimed to provide constructive feedback were attacked or dismissed. Yet it's particularly strange where this forum is concerned given that the development team and customer support agents both direct players here to leave feedback towards the game.

Thus 'fOrUmZ sUcK' style comments are attacking people for using them for their primary intended purpose. Whether the development team actually read or listen to the feedback in question is another matter entirely, though.

One would hope the devs cast a net wider then just a few places on the Internet. In the end, those of us who actually bother to come onto places like these forums or Reddit are a very small minority of players, with opinions and views that are hardly free of any personal bias. I mean, you may accuse other places of having an 'echo chamber' but this forum is hardly free of such mentality either, nor is it restricted to positive opinions.

Honestly I kinda agree with OP on this. [SNIP]

I mean, one day it may be like that but I really feel we are nowhere near to being put on an ICU yet. Besides, nothing lasts forever. Yoshi's comments seem to just be acknowledging that. Perhaps one day FFXIV will stop being a MMO, but it will be many, many long years until that. Also, I would honestly prefer the game eventually going single player then to be forever lost when the time comes.

[Deveryn]

It's important to consider where the complaints are coming from. A lot what's going on is people's wild expectations that they created themselves, so most of the complaints can be taken with a grain of salt. If you're treating this like more world race content, then you're in for a rude awakening. Give people a week and they'll settle down and decide if they want to even bother with the feature. They'll likely start quietly enjoying it. God forbid anyone comes by and admits they were wrong.

[Iyrnthota]

It's important to consider where the complaints are coming from. A lot what's going on is people's wild expectations that they created themselves, so most of the complaints can be taken with a grain of salt. If you're treating this like more world race content, then you're in for a rude awakening. Give people a week and they'll settle down and decide if they want to even bother with the feature. They'll likely start quietly enjoying it. God forbid anyone comes by and admits they were wrong.

Honestly, I've seen a pretty wide varierty of complaints for it.

- You've got the typical odd "IS is the worst thing to happen since Hitler. It wasted my time and killed my dog to boot" style comments.
- Quite a few for whom this content is clearly not their cup of tea. Usually reactions are then split 50/50 "and that's fine I'll do something else" or "my dissapointment is immeasureable and my day is ruined".
- Then there's a lot (which is the majority insofar as I have seen) where it's "I'm really enjoying this content, but here things I think could be improved".

[Tlamila]

They'll likely start quietly enjoying it. God forbid anyone comes by and admits they were wrong.

Or, you know, some people will just continue to dislike it. And there's nothign wrong with that.

[Araxes]

Its alright. Just a bit slow or grindy.

[Casti_EL]

I quite enjoy it as a break from the other stuff. Is it perfect . . no, but it's relaxing, fun, and paves the way for possible improvements in future (i.e. If everyone can have their own instanced island, surely we can now get instanced housing?). I'm interested to see where the Devs take it.

[Myrany]

My biggest issue is how the game doesn't respect your time. It time-gates you as if that's expected or somehow a good addition to the experience. It is absolutely not.
They need to work on it more to really make it shine. I get there are people who aren't going to complain because they really do like what's going on here, but the further you get into this content the more you'll realize It uses inconveniences as a way to stop you from playing. They didn't even bother to increase your exp yield from gathering and kept it at a static 10 exp per node. This is blatant disregard and disrespect to a player's time if they want to move up quickly in the ranks and see what it has to offer.
You may be okay with it, but there are those who are not.

It is my understanding that this is optional content (someone correct me if I missed a memo and it is required to go forward in the game). As such it is entirely up to you how much or little time you put into it. It is your choice. Seems to me that respects your time entirely since you could just skip it if you felt it was too much.

[Jojoya]

Even with people's expectations tempered, even when Yoshi P himself told people not to expect too much, people are still disappointed.

And congestion issues for the fifth major patch in a row this expansion. They still haven't got servers figured out.

And it seems things that FF14 has once been lauded for are gone: the UI in Island Sanctuary is a mess. UX is a complete afterthought.

Island Sanctuary lacks so much depth even a Facebook game like Farmville has it beat.

This game needs to either get in an ICU or just give up and go to a hospice.

Players need to take responsibility for setting their expectations too high.

Congestion is going to continue until the new NA worlds can be added and players take advantage of the free transfer opportunities when they are. They've got the servers figured out. The delay is getting the needed hardware from their suppliers.

They'll update the UI as they get player feedback.

See point one. We were told it would not have depth.

If you feel the game is dying, why are you here instead of playing another game?